Getting a new energy tariff - or not

In article snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk>, "Dave Plowman (News)" snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk> writes

The return on capital in the utilities is quite small, as it is considered a relatively safe investment. In order to make a profit they have to provide a service.

In article snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk>, "Dave Plowman (News)" snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk> writes

Not to a socialist it doesn't

Did you mean "inefficient".

In article snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk>, "Dave Plowman (News)" snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk> writes

But competition ensures they are all striving to be better.

They are required to now by the regulator. Their priority is to survive.

In article <s3kvlo$1ir7$ snipped-for-privacy@gioia.aioe.org>, RJH snipped-for-privacy@gmx.com writes

That's why we have various regulators. No-one these days believes in laissez faire capitalism.

In article snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk>, "Dave Plowman (News)" snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk> writes

I would have thought the reason was obvious.

Thanks, I did indeed.

A hollow requirement

We estimate your annual cost for the next 12 months as:

Gas £xxx Electricity £yyy

These prices include standing charges, unit rates and VAT. Remember ? it may be worth thinking about switching your tariff or supplier [/quote]

A previous supplier used the industry formula to advise of a cheaper tariff Their alternative tariff cost for a year compared with the time left on your current contract (say, 6 months )plus 6 months on on the standard variable rate. This usually meant that the more expensive new tariff was classified as cheaper.

A big company often has layers of management just to manage the management!

Of course. I'd forgotten when I change gas or electricity supplier, they come round and connect me to a different supply.

That only happens if you change from dirty energy to green energy.

In article snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk>, "Dave Plowman (News)" snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk> writes

Of course I have not forgotten, you are an idiot.

How do they do that? You get whatever comes off the grid. They cannot direct the electrons from a windmill to your home, or as electrons are negative, is it the other way round?

I believe that the promise is that they will buy and upload to the grid as much green electricity as their customers pay for. Those green electrons may not be coming up your actual meter into your actual house but they are being added to the grid and displace the use of un-green electricity.

Nick

Of course they can, that's why you pay extra.

finding new tariffs using quarterly billing paid by DD is hard enough

finding one by cash/cheque, near impossible

alan_m used his keyboard to write :

I guess MSE has had issues for a while then - In November, towards my end of contract, it emailed me to suggest I ought to move from my then Outfox deal, to another more expensive tariff with Outfox. I switched, as suggested, then the day after MSE emailed me again to suggest they had sent the first email in error and I should stay put.

As it worked out, all tariffs shot up and my move actually proved to be a good move, because I was stuck with Outfox on a much cheaper tariff for the next 12 months.

NY pretended :

A variable DD is what I have used for many years and it works absolutely great. I have always kept a close eye on my consumption of both E & G, I record it in a spreadsheet once per week out of curiosity

- so I can fairly accurately predict what my annual consumption will be. I then simply provide that figure when looking for a new tariff contract, to get the cheapest/best quote.

The DD amount is set to a monthly figure which will remain roughly the same for the following 12 months, but if I get ahead or behind, they can tweak it slightly to match to correct the error.

Each month, they email a bill to me, which shows my consumption and whether I owe them, or they owe me. Following the past few months of it being exceptionally cold, I owe them the grand sum of £6.98 on my combined utility bill.

I have been with the same supplier now for 17 months, though on two different tariffs. They tweaked my DD a couple of months ago, for the first time, to add an extra £3 pm to my DD, because I was slipping slightly behind. Paying more or less the same each and every month, makes it easy to budget, though I have absolutely no need to budget.

I don't need to remember to pay the bill. It makes it easier for the energy company to budget too and it reduces their costs - which is reflected in keeper energy for their customers. Getting paid by you, as you consume, means the energy company doesn't have to borrow to pay their bills, another saving which they pass on to the customer in lower bills - What's not to like in having lower bills?

I do something similar with my electricity only supplier. I keep a weekly numbers check on a spreadsheet, because on some occasions in the past previous suppliers got the off peak and on peak meter readings reversed, though I now submit readings monthly. I still get a cost disparity from my spreadsheet usage and to what they say I have used. I originally thought it was VAT, but my original tariff quote included VAT. One of the problems is the energy company always rounds up with a future reading.